Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 8/15/2010

Eminem's RecoveryÂ returned to #1, again. The Aftermath release beat last week's #1 Arcade Fire's, by close to 80,000 units.

In doing so, Eminem became to first emcee to garner a multi-platinum 2010 release, as Recovery now is in the two million jurisdiction.

Rick Ross also joined the 300,000 club with Teflon Don. This feat puts the Miami rapper in an elite 2010 club with Drake, Em, B.o.B., Ludacris and Lil Wayne. The Def Jam rapper's fourth official album features work from veterans such as No I.D., DJ Clark Kent and Cee-Lo. Speaking of, Drake's Thank Me Later fell to #11. There is a strong possiblity that the Cash Money/Young Money release will meet the million mark next week, if sales are up.

Former Underground Report artist Mike Posner garnered a Top 10 debut with 31 Minutes To Takeoff. Now signed to J Records, the Duke University alum and Michigan native balanced singing and raps with an album that features Travis Barker, backed by single "Cooler Than Me."

One of this year's true surprises came courtesy of UGK's Bun B. Trill O.G.Â maintained a Top 20 performance after last week's #4 debut. Bun's album is the first since moving his Rap-A-Lot Records distribution from Asylum to Universal Fontana. The third in the "Trill" series features appearances from Drake, Gucci Mane and posthumous verses from 2Pac and Pimp C, while production is handled by DJ Premier, Boi-1da and veteran UGK producer Steve Below. In two weeks, Trill O.G. crossed the 50,000 mark as an independent release.

* Please note: figures below approximated to nearest thousandth.

Top 200 Album Sales (Top 5 Hip Hop/R&B)

Rank

Artist

Album

This Week

Est. Total

1

Eminem

Recovery

133,000

2,113,000

7

Rick Ross

Teflon Don

30,000

309,000

8

Mike Posner

31 Minutes To Takeoff

29,000

29,000

11

Drake

Thank Me Later

24,000

970,000

17

Bun B

Trill O.G.

16,000

57,000

Outkast's Big Boi shuffled to #44. His critically-acclaimed Def Jam debut, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty features artists such as T.I., Gucci Mane and Too Short, with production from Organized Noize, Scott Storch and Lil Jon. The Roots' acclaimed How I Got OverÂ is 31 spots behind Big Boi. This other Def Jam release features extended Roots family Dice Raw, Truck North and others, in addition to Blu, Phonte and Peedi Peedi.

Another acclaimed release, Damian Marley & Nas' Distant Relatives fell just outside of the Top 100. The Universal Republic/Def Jam release sits just below 175,000 units. The duo has toured extensively, and Marley hosted a UStream chat on Monday night. Another debut this week came courtesy of Street Sweeper Social Club's Ghetto Blaster EP. The Rap/Rock duo of Boots Riley (The Coup) and Tom Morello (Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave) made covers of such tunes as LL Cool J's 1991 hit "Mama Said Knock You Out" and M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes." Debuting at #144, the seven-song EP released through Warner Brothers distribution cleared over 3,000 units.

Fat Joe holds onto the Top 200 The Darkside Volume 1 at #192 . The release marks Joe's debut with E1 Entertainment, and features work with DJ Premier, Just Blaze and Too Short. The darker-themed album has critics comparing it to Joe's first three albums. Despite the strong praises, the work's sales have become an object of ridicule from Joe's nemesis, 50 Cent.